FBI director Christopher Wray was last night facing calls to quit after the organisation admitted it failed to act on a tip off it received about the suspect in the Florida high school shooting. Rick Scott , the Florida Governor, said Mr Wray "[needed] to resign" over the "unacceptable" failings after the intelligence agency revealed it was warned that the suspect, Nikolas Cruz, had a "desire to kill people" almost six weeks ago The FBI's stunning admission has raised questions over whether it could have prevented Wednesday's shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, which left 17 people dead. Mr Scott hit out at the intelligence agency in highly critical statement, saying the "FBI's failure to take action against this killer is unacceptable". "An apology will never bring these 17 Floridians back to life or comfort the families who are in pain." Florida senator Marco Rubio also criticised the FBI, saying it was "inexcusable" that the bureau did not follow protocols and called for Congress to launch its own investigations into what happened. The FBI said a person close to the 19-year-old Cruz contacted the agency with concerns about his social media posts and his possession of firearms on January 5 but agents neglected to pass the information on to its Florida branch. "Under established protocols, the information provided by the caller should have been assessed as a potential threat to life," the FBI said. "The information then should have been forwarded to the FBI Miami field office, where appropriate investigative steps would have been taken. We have determined that these protocols were not followed." The FBI Director needs to resign: https://t.co/xKdKjbNEKbpic.twitter.com/JrBSLOautb— Rick Scott (@FLGovScott) February 16, 2018 On Thursday, it was revealed that the FBI was separately warned in September that a YouTube user with the same name as Cruz had threatened to become a "professional school shooter". Ben Bennight, a 36-year-old YouTube video blogger from Mississippi, told CNN he contacted the agency after a comment by a user with the name Nikolas Cruz left the alarming comment on a video he had posted. Mr Wray, the FBI's director, said the bureau is continuing to investigate how the oversight occurred. "We have spoken with victims and families, and deeply regret the additional pain this causes all those affected by this horrific tragedy," Mr Wray said in the statement. Read more | Florida school shooting "All of the men and women of the FBI are dedicated to keeping the American people safe, and are relentlessly committed to improving all that we do and how we do it." The massacre in Parkland, Florida, was one of the deadliest school shootings in US history and has stirred debate about the country's school security and the right to buy guns. Donald Trump is expected to travel to the small, middle class community to meet the victims' families, but he may not receive a warm reception. The US president has been criticised for failing to mention guns during his national address following the tragedy. Instead Mr Trump linked the shooting to mental illness, suggesting that it was the public's responsibility to warn officials of such dangers. So many signs that the Florida shooter was mentally disturbed, even expelled from school for bad and erratic behavior. Neighbors and classmates knew he was a big problem. Must always report such instances to authorities, again and again!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 15, 2018 Cruz, who had been expelled from the school where he allegedly staged his attack for undisclosed disciplinary reasons, made a brief court appearance on Thursday. He has confessed to being the gunman, police said. "He's a broken human being," his lawyer, Melissa McNeill, told reporters. "He's sad, he's mournful, he's remorseful."

The teenage gunman charged with unleashing one of America’s worst school shootings had been trained by a white supremacist paramilitary group, and may have chosen Valentine’s Day to strike after the end of a relationship with a girlfriend. Nikolas Cruz, 19, described by fellow pupils as a “weird and racist” gun-obsessed loner, has been charged with murdering 17 people at his former school in Parkland, an affluent suburb north of Miami, Florida. According to one of the group’s leaders, Cruz trained with Republic of Florida, which campaigns for a “white ethno-state”. Jordan Jereb said Cruz had probably relied on his training to carry out the attack, but had not been told to do so by anybody at the organisation. He said Cruz “acted on his own behalf” and was “solely responsible for what he just did”. Jereb also said Cruz had “trouble with a girl” and the Valentine’s Day timing was probably not a coincidence. It also emerged that Cruz had previously been treated at a mental health clinic, but was still able to legally purchase an AR-15 rifle, and large amounts of ammunition, passing a background check in February 2017. Melissa McNeil, Cruz’s lawyer, said he suffered from autism. She added: “The child is deeply troubled and he has endured significant trauma that stems from the loss of his mother.” Immediately after the shooting Cruz went to a nearby Subway restaurant and bought a drink. Then he moved to a McDonald’s and “sat down for a short period of time,” local sheriff Scott Israel said. He then left and was arrested 40 minutes later. Cruz was placed on suicide watch in jail. Gun related incidents at US schools this year Donald Trump delivered a sombre address from the White House after the 18th school shooting in the country this year, but he avoided any mention of curbing access to guns. Instead, the US president said he would “tackle the difficult issue of mental health” and that there had been “so many signs” that Cruz was “mentally disturbed.” He added on Twitter: “Neighbours and classmates knew he was a big problem. Must always report such instances to authorities, again and again!” Jeff Sessions, the attorney general, said: “It cannot be denied that something dangerous and unhealthy is happening. We are going to take action. We must reverse these trends.” And Rick Scott, the Florida governor, said: “If someone is mentally ill, they can’t have access to a gun.” Barack Obama, the former president, said on Twitter: “Until we can honestly say that we’re doing enough to keep them [our kids] safe from harm, including long overdue, common-sense gun-safety laws that most Americans want, then we have to change.” We are grieving with Parkland. But we are not powerless. Caring for our kids is our first job. And until we can honestly say that we're doing enough to keep them safe from harm, including long overdue, common-sense gun safety laws that most Americans want, then we have to change.— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) February 15, 2018 Survivors of the mass shooting also demanded action. David Hogg, a pupil who witnessed it, said: “We’re children. You guys are the adults. You need to take some action and play a role. Work together, come over your politics, and get something done.” Another pupil named Sarah wrote on Twitter: “Multiple of my fellow classmates are dead, Do something instead of sending prayers. Prayers won’t fix this. But gun control will prevent it from happening again.” Suspect Nikolas Cruz, left, with public defender Melisa McNeille, making an appearance before Judge Kim Theresa Mollica in Broward County Court Credit: Susan Stocker Last night, Cruz made his first court appearance, dressed in an orange jumpsuit with his hands shackled to his waist. Asked to confirm his name he told the judge: “Yes Ma’am”. He was ordered to be held without bail. It had earlier emerged that there had been a litany of missed warnings about Cruz. Last year, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School sent an email to its teachers telling them not to let Cruz on site if carrying a backpack, after bullets were found in his bag. This photo posted on the Instagram account of Nikolas Cruz shows a weapon being held Credit: Instagram He was then expelled after fighting with the boyfriend of an ex-girlfriend, according to a fellow pupil. On Sept 24, a YouTube user calling themselves Nikolas Cruz posted a message saying: “I’m going to be a professional school shooter.” It was left on the YouTube page of Ben Bennight, a bail bondsman in Mississippi, who immediately reported it to both YouTube and the FBI. The following day he was visited by two FBI agents, who took photographs of the post. Mr Bennight next heard from the FBI on Wednesday, half an hour after Cruz was arrested. An agent left a message saying: “If you wouldn’t mind giving me a ring…” Robert Laskey, an FBI Special Agent, said the message in September had been investigated. He said: “The FBI conducted database reviews, checks, but was unable to further identify the person who made the comment.” Cruz was born in New York but adopted as an infant, along with his brother, by Roger and Lynda Cruz. Roger Cruz died of a heart attack when Cruz was a child. Students grieve after Wednesday's mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Credit: Joel Auerbach Lynda Cruz died of pneumonia on Nov 1 last year and he moved in with another family. Jim Lewis, a lawyer for the family with whom Cruz was living at the time of the shooting, said: “There was no indication that anything severe like this was wrong. Just a mildly troubled kid who’d lost his mother.” However, fellow pupils said they had always feared Cruz would “shoot the place up”. Dakota Mutchler, 17, said: “I think everyone had in their minds, if anybody was going to do it, it was going to be him.”

FBI director Christopher Wray was last night facing calls to quit after the organisation admitted it failed to act on a tip off it received about the suspect in the Florida high school shooting. Rick Scott , the Florida Governor, said Mr Wray "[needed] to resign" over the "unacceptable" failings after the intelligence agency revealed it was warned that the suspect, Nikolas Cruz, had a "desire to kill people" almost six weeks ago The FBI's stunning admission has raised questions over whether it could have prevented Wednesday's shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, which left 17 people dead. Mr Scott hit out at the intelligence agency in highly critical statement, saying the "FBI's failure to take action against this killer is unacceptable". "An apology will never bring these 17 Floridians back to life or comfort the families who are in pain." Florida senator Marco Rubio also criticised the FBI, saying it was "inexcusable" that the bureau did not follow protocols and called for Congress to launch its own investigations into what happened. The FBI said a person close to the 19-year-old Cruz contacted the agency with concerns about his social media posts and his possession of firearms on January 5 but agents neglected to pass the information on to its Florida branch. "Under established protocols, the information provided by the caller should have been assessed as a potential threat to life," the FBI said. "The information then should have been forwarded to the FBI Miami field office, where appropriate investigative steps would have been taken. We have determined that these protocols were not followed." The FBI Director needs to resign: https://t.co/xKdKjbNEKbpic.twitter.com/JrBSLOautb— Rick Scott (@FLGovScott) February 16, 2018 On Thursday, it was revealed that the FBI was separately warned in September that a YouTube user with the same name as Cruz had threatened to become a "professional school shooter". Ben Bennight, a 36-year-old YouTube video blogger from Mississippi, told CNN he contacted the agency after a comment by a user with the name Nikolas Cruz left the alarming comment on a video he had posted. Mr Wray, the FBI's director, said the bureau is continuing to investigate how the oversight occurred. "We have spoken with victims and families, and deeply regret the additional pain this causes all those affected by this horrific tragedy," Mr Wray said in the statement. Read more | Florida school shooting "All of the men and women of the FBI are dedicated to keeping the American people safe, and are relentlessly committed to improving all that we do and how we do it." The massacre in Parkland, Florida, was one of the deadliest school shootings in US history and has stirred debate about the country's school security and the right to buy guns. Donald Trump is expected to travel to the small, middle class community to meet the victims' families, but he may not receive a warm reception. The US president has been criticised for failing to mention guns during his national address following the tragedy. Instead Mr Trump linked the shooting to mental illness, suggesting that it was the public's responsibility to warn officials of such dangers. So many signs that the Florida shooter was mentally disturbed, even expelled from school for bad and erratic behavior. Neighbors and classmates knew he was a big problem. Must always report such instances to authorities, again and again!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 15, 2018 Cruz, who had been expelled from the school where he allegedly staged his attack for undisclosed disciplinary reasons, made a brief court appearance on Thursday. He has confessed to being the gunman, police said. "He's a broken human being," his lawyer, Melissa McNeill, told reporters. "He's sad, he's mournful, he's remorseful."

The teenage gunman charged with unleashing one of America’s worst school shootings had been trained by a white supremacist paramilitary group, and may have chosen Valentine’s Day to strike after the end of a relationship with a girlfriend. Nikolas Cruz, 19, described by fellow pupils as a “weird and racist” gun-obsessed loner, has been charged with murdering 17 people at his former school in Parkland, an affluent suburb north of Miami, Florida. According to one of the group’s leaders, Cruz trained with Republic of Florida, which campaigns for a “white ethno-state”. Jordan Jereb said Cruz had probably relied on his training to carry out the attack, but had not been told to do so by anybody at the organisation. He said Cruz “acted on his own behalf” and was “solely responsible for what he just did”. Jereb also said Cruz had “trouble with a girl” and the Valentine’s Day timing was probably not a coincidence. It also emerged that Cruz had previously been treated at a mental health clinic, but was still able to legally purchase an AR-15 rifle, and large amounts of ammunition, passing a background check in February 2017. Melissa McNeil, Cruz’s lawyer, said he suffered from autism. She added: “The child is deeply troubled and he has endured significant trauma that stems from the loss of his mother.” Immediately after the shooting Cruz went to a nearby Subway restaurant and bought a drink. Then he moved to a McDonald’s and “sat down for a short period of time,” local sheriff Scott Israel said. He then left and was arrested 40 minutes later. Cruz was placed on suicide watch in jail. Gun related incidents at US schools this year Donald Trump delivered a sombre address from the White House after the 18th school shooting in the country this year, but he avoided any mention of curbing access to guns. Instead, the US president said he would “tackle the difficult issue of mental health” and that there had been “so many signs” that Cruz was “mentally disturbed.” He added on Twitter: “Neighbours and classmates knew he was a big problem. Must always report such instances to authorities, again and again!” Jeff Sessions, the attorney general, said: “It cannot be denied that something dangerous and unhealthy is happening. We are going to take action. We must reverse these trends.” And Rick Scott, the Florida governor, said: “If someone is mentally ill, they can’t have access to a gun.” Barack Obama, the former president, said on Twitter: “Until we can honestly say that we’re doing enough to keep them [our kids] safe from harm, including long overdue, common-sense gun-safety laws that most Americans want, then we have to change.” We are grieving with Parkland. But we are not powerless. Caring for our kids is our first job. And until we can honestly say that we're doing enough to keep them safe from harm, including long overdue, common-sense gun safety laws that most Americans want, then we have to change.— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) February 15, 2018 Survivors of the mass shooting also demanded action. David Hogg, a pupil who witnessed it, said: “We’re children. You guys are the adults. You need to take some action and play a role. Work together, come over your politics, and get something done.” Another pupil named Sarah wrote on Twitter: “Multiple of my fellow classmates are dead, Do something instead of sending prayers. Prayers won’t fix this. But gun control will prevent it from happening again.” Suspect Nikolas Cruz, left, with public defender Melisa McNeille, making an appearance before Judge Kim Theresa Mollica in Broward County Court Credit: Susan Stocker Last night, Cruz made his first court appearance, dressed in an orange jumpsuit with his hands shackled to his waist. Asked to confirm his name he told the judge: “Yes Ma’am”. He was ordered to be held without bail. It had earlier emerged that there had been a litany of missed warnings about Cruz. Last year, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School sent an email to its teachers telling them not to let Cruz on site if carrying a backpack, after bullets were found in his bag. This photo posted on the Instagram account of Nikolas Cruz shows a weapon being held Credit: Instagram He was then expelled after fighting with the boyfriend of an ex-girlfriend, according to a fellow pupil. On Sept 24, a YouTube user calling themselves Nikolas Cruz posted a message saying: “I’m going to be a professional school shooter.” It was left on the YouTube page of Ben Bennight, a bail bondsman in Mississippi, who immediately reported it to both YouTube and the FBI. The following day he was visited by two FBI agents, who took photographs of the post. Mr Bennight next heard from the FBI on Wednesday, half an hour after Cruz was arrested. An agent left a message saying: “If you wouldn’t mind giving me a ring…” Robert Laskey, an FBI Special Agent, said the message in September had been investigated. He said: “The FBI conducted database reviews, checks, but was unable to further identify the person who made the comment.” Cruz was born in New York but adopted as an infant, along with his brother, by Roger and Lynda Cruz. Roger Cruz died of a heart attack when Cruz was a child. Students grieve after Wednesday's mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Credit: Joel Auerbach Lynda Cruz died of pneumonia on Nov 1 last year and he moved in with another family. Jim Lewis, a lawyer for the family with whom Cruz was living at the time of the shooting, said: “There was no indication that anything severe like this was wrong. Just a mildly troubled kid who’d lost his mother.” However, fellow pupils said they had always feared Cruz would “shoot the place up”. Dakota Mutchler, 17, said: “I think everyone had in their minds, if anybody was going to do it, it was going to be him.”

The Peach State is physically immense, the largest east of the Mississippi River, so understandably it will take more than a few days to cover the highlights. This 12-day Georgia itinerary covers some of the best places to visit in the state.